JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $310.00 to $340.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 1.13% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upped their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush upped their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $329.11.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of CRM opened at $336.19 on Wednesday. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $348.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $321.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.47, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $292.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.20.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 133,183 shares of company stock worth $38,314,066. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.